In Fairness, I Saved You From Drowning
by Madame Cross Marian
Summary: What if Allen never found it within herself to visit Mana's grave? She never becomes cursed, instead she discovers her unnatural talents as a musician and wanders the Western hemisphere as a travelling pianist, never staying in one country for over a month. That is until an especially eventful trip to Portugal leaves her stranded and unknowing in the face of the earl. fem!Allen
1. Chapter 1

I have no beta, so all mistakes are of my own fault. I apologize if they are distracting, feel free to point them out to me and I will fix them as soon as possible. I edit my stories frequently, so I should be able to take care of it pretty soon :)

-Story Start-

Maybe she should go. To mourn him proper, as she had Allen. Sometimes she'd try. She'd start to put on her shoes, or she'd make it half way out the door. But every time something stopped her, like invisible chains were pulling her back. She could swear she felt their grip around her gut, and her throat, the dread that lingered despite the horror being past and the tears that just refused to rise. But that little apartment they'd rented, the one that still had three days paid, it called to her, to let the scratchy, patched blankets envelope her in the cold, drafty room. And so she would sink into them, each stitch on the fabric scratching against her like a knife, but at the same time offering warmth. Warmth... was it December already?

Unknown to her, a big, broad smiling man is standing at that grave, the one that's calls are just that much colder than the empty temporary embrace that ties her down. He lets out a small sort of chuckle and a tear rolls down his face. It was okay. He'd be seeing her soon, he guessed.

From the right angle, he disappears on the next gust of wind.

-1-1-1-

A short woman with wavy red hair makes her way down the crowded streets of Lisbon. A long, white trench coat flaps unbuttoned behind her, a small red messenger style bag hung over her shoulder to match the ribbon around her neck. Among the well tanned and dark haired men and women that flowed around her she stood out to stay the least, but she kept along with a head held proud and an elegant posture as though she didn't notice- and, more importantly, as though she weren't lost. She wondered exactly where she had taken the wrong turn. Was it just a ways back, or had it been at the very beginning of her trip? ...Or had they all been wrong?

Maybe she should ask for directions, she toyed, looking up at the stray cloud looming over her, staining the otherwise clear blue sky. Well, maybe not. It was such a beautiful day, who really cared if she was a little late anyway? She certainly didn- why were her feet no longer on land?

She groaned under the water, attempting pitifully to doggy paddle her way out. In her walking through her mind, she had failed to remember she was walking in real life as well, in addition to the fact that this walking was along a line of peers. She'd absently stepped straight off a dock. Suddenly she remembered the sheets of music within her bag, and with a few colorful words had switched from barely staying afloat with free hands, to struggling fiercely to keep her bag out of the water with on arm, and her mouth above it with the other.

"Help please!' She called, hoping someone was nearby. She could be alright, but it was either her or her bag, and she'd rather not have to make that choice. "I'd appreciate it!"

She was just beginning to think she would have to abandon her bag in order to get to shore when she felt herself being plucked from the water by the collar of her coat. She felt strangely akin to a kitten grabbed by the scruff off its neck.

"Divertir-se, menina*?" Rumbled a low, amused voice. She cracked open her previously squeezed tight eyes. In front of her was a finely dressed man with the same dark look as the rest of people she had passed that day, but set on far more handsome features than that of most men she saw, well, anywhere. And she'd been just about anywhere. She met his dark brown eyes and broad grin with her own silver ones and and an awkward smile.

"Eu nao falo portugues*."

He snorted as he lowered her feet the sturdy wooden dock she had walked off of just moments ago. "Obviously."

"Oh," She smiled and sighed in relief. "You speak English! Great- I can thank you then, so um, yeah. Thanks- wait, I know this- obrigada!"

"Sem problemas," he said, continuing to smile. Abruptly he glanced around for a moment then look back at her again with a confused expression. She followed in suit, and for the first time noticed some of the girls glaring at her as they passed by. She guessed that's what he was confused about, in particular one or two who were, in fact, frozen to the spot.

"Vicious looking aren't they?" She said raising an eyebrow. Adding to her own new-found confusion he didn't respond, instead staring at her intently with a furrowed brow. Suddenly he flopped back over to some form of amusement, now with a sinister touch.

"Just who are you, menina?"

"A concert pianist?"

"Aah," he made a small noise of understanding. "Tell me, menina, what is your name?"

"Allen," she supplied, struggling a bit to keep her polite smile in place. This man may have saved her and her music, but her was creeping her out here. Staring her down like he knew something she didn't. "Allen Walker."

"Hn. Perhaps I shall be seeing you around, _Allen Walker._ " He says, laughing as he walks away, disappearing into the crowds of people like she could not. The girls continued to glare, but went on about there business. -Who the hell had she just talked to?

-2-2-2-

"What'cha thinking about, Tyki?" Road asked, swinging Lero around in circles, much to his distress and her amusement. "You seem distracted."

"Hn?" He looked over from the window he had been staring out of. "Sorry. Just ran into someone interesting while I was out today."

"Hm? Interesting how?" She paused in swinging Lero for a moment.

"I believe she may be one of us..." he trailed looking unfocused again. "Her presence was familiar, but I can't place it. Similar to ours, but I don't know which memory for some reason."

"Ah..." Road abandoned the poor umbrella to the ground now. "That _is_ interesting. Good job, Tyki~! I'll inform Millenie immediately!"

"Oh!" He called to her, just before she could skip out the door. "I did speak with her some. She's some sort of pianist, probably in town for a concert. She said her name was Allen Walker."

The other noah smiled a curling, slow smile, the only thing visible in the shadow of the door. "Thank you, Tyki."

She paused as an akuma passed by the door just as she closed it."Hey," she called it over.

"Yes, mistress?" It questioned obediently.

"I need you to go out and find all the local piano concerts for the next month. Try to find one by the musician 'Allen Walker'."

"As you command, mistress." It obeyed without question. She watched at it floated away, unable to keep the smile off her face. Finally, their 14th would return!

-2-2-2-

"Eeh," the redheaded woman pouted, shuffling through her ticket sales. Just once she'd like to have a full house. Most of the people that did show up were some kind of women's rights supporter or another, all proud of their fellow woman going "out there" and finding work in a traditionally masculine profession. She'd rather people just came because they enjoyed the piano.

Unfortunately, the exact reason she attracted the women's suffrage communities was also the reason most people refused to attend. All in all, she found very few people actually attended hoping to find quality music. She loved proving there were more than political reasons to go to her concerts, but by the time word of mouth did spread enough for a decent revenue, it was almost always time to move on. Another town, probably another country. That was the good thing about piano, it spoke every language.

She herself spoke only two- her native French and her travel-gathered English. Much to her distress she had found early on that English was the far more universal of the two, and picked it up more out of necessity than actual desire to learn the language. From what she'd heard in snippets on the streets, she wouldn't mind learning Portuguese, though. She'd liked the sound of it.

"Miss?" A small blonde woman poked her head through the door of her shabby hotel room.

"Come in, Elivra." She acknowledged the sweet little receptionist. She had been lucky enough to find a hotel where some of the staff spoke English, though she had as hard a time understanding their Portuguese accents as they did he own French one.

"A last minute sale, miss," she handed her a small package. "The theatre manager dropped it off just minutes ago, I came by with it as soon as I was free."

"Thank you, Elivra," she smiled, taking the envelope.

"Apparently the buyers are pretty well off. The manager was practically _giddy_ and he only gets half the tip they gave you. It must be a nice one."

"Really?" She raised her eyebrows. Her tickets were pretty cheap, and most of her attendees were lower-middle class at best. The girl just nodded and left as softly as she had arrived, leaving only a short "good luck" behind her. The redhead shrugged her shoulders, digging through the envelope expecting to find maybe around 15,000 escudo, still more than anything she'd ever gotten, but believable for an eccentric someone of the upper class. Instead, her jaw dropped at the cash in her hands. Ten million escudo.

Her mind ran through the different calculations of its equivalents in different currency.

Over 35,000 pounds.

She could eat for _weeks_. Clearly this was a mistake, she panicked. What if he got mad at her for stealing his money? She gasped at her own thoughts. What if he had her _killled?_ Or put in prison? She clasped her hand to her heart. _Without piano!_

She blinked. No! She knew- she would simply find him after the performance and sort it out. yes, he would see that this was all a misunderstanding and they would both go about their lives as per usual.

All back to normal.

-2-2-2-

"This is it?" Road furrowed her brow at the dumpy little theatre before them. Now she saw why Tyki had insisted they dressed down- he himself had donned his mining garb. He knew that area of town, and it was about as shady as you could get without wondering into the red-light district.

"Seems so," he shrugged, making his way to the door. "She wasn't exactly the most finely dressed of women when I ran into her."

When they stepped in the theatre the house was only half-full, and that was almost comforting judging by the sorts that seemed to be there. From Tyki's judgment, he was the only man there. He vaguely recalled the site had been used for women's rights protests in the past. It was odd, the girl hadn't seemed the type.

Well, he didn't know if he was right or wrong just yet but when the lights dimmed and that pretty little lady walked on stage it couldn't have mattered less. She must have taken time to buy something nice for shows, because unlike her barely passable navy skirt and possibly mens shirt from earlier this was of upper class quality, and neutral enough not to be stuck in any particular fashion era and get outdated. It was worth more than he guessed she could afford- it must have been a gift.

That didn't matter much to him though. What mattered was the dangerous, _dangerous_ cut of the neckline on that gown, and the bustle-less skirt that draped around her just sheer enough he could swear he saw the shadowy outlines of her legs, well-shaped but too thin from periods of malnutrition. What mattered was that through the equally sheer little quarter sleeves, and the elbow-length white gloves, he could see markings similar to those on people he'd seen burnt from the mines all the way down her left arm. She was hiding something, and he had a feeling he wouldn't like it. He liked her though- he liked what he saw.

"Hi!" The girl smiled, waving at her humble crowd. A few encouraging whoups respond. She brushes back a curl escaped from her elaborate up-do. "I know you may not be expecting much- if I were in your positions I probably wouldn't either. But here I am, so hopefully you'll find you money's worth! Every piece I play will be one I have written myself, and copies of the sheet music ill be available for 100 escudo a song at the exit- you can't get them anywhere else!" She lowered herself to the bench in front of a small upright piano and turned her head to the audience. "With that said, let's make some magic, shall we?"

More whoops from the activists.

She didn't seem to hear them this time. Instead, she only closed her eyes, and melted into the notes. He couldn't believe what was happening. Every time the mood in a song changed he felt his emotions snap with it, like it was leading him along on a road he didn't know was there. At multiple moments he found himself practically grinning, or gripping the arm rests on his seat in anger. If Road felt anything at all, she didn't give any indication of it.

It went on like that for at east two hours before the real kicker came. He guessed it was the last song because she paused a deal longer before playing it, and she called out to the audience again for the first time since she started.

"Usually I make a new set of songs for each concert, but..." she shrugged. "I can't help but do this one every time."

Beat.

Beat.

Beat.

 _"Then the boy went to sleep_

 _And on or two embers left_

 _In the ashes flared up in the shape of your beloved faced_

 _And thousands of dreams spread over the land_

 _Stars like silver eyes twinkling in the night_

 _Your shining ones fell to the earth_

 _And even though eons turn many prayers to dust_

 _I will keep praying_

 _Please love this child_

 _And kiss the hand your holding..."_

He brought up a hand to his cheek. Was he... crying? He looked over at Road again for explanation only to find that she was doing the same.

"I do believe," he raised an eyebrow, "that we have found another of us."

"You could say that," she smiled, wiping away some of the tears off her cheeks. "Let's go catch her before she leaves."

He nodded in agreement and rose, following her opposite the flow of the audience, down the aisles and up the stairs that led to the stage. They made it up just quick enough to see a wave of newly let down, wavy, red hair disappear through on of the backstage doors. He felt his footsteps quicken until he was walking even just a note faster than his companion. If her small giggle was anything to go by she didn't fail to notice, but she neglected to comment. He pushed through the door, not particularly caring if it slammed into the wall behind it. Well, it certainly didn't slam into a wall.

"Ow! Wha- dammit!" He froze. He recognized that voice. He peered around the corner of the door, only to see a certain watery eyed redhead.

"Oh, sorry!" He tried to charmingly grin it off.

"That's okay," the woman blinked away the last bit of tears swelling in her eyes and rubbed her left cheek where the door had left a red mark that would probably turn into a light bruise later. She looked up at him and suddenly a bulb seemed to go off in he mind. "Oh, are you the guy who gave the big tip?"

"Probably,"he shrugged, still feeling slightly guilty over the bruise.

"I assume it was a mistake- who am I kidding, I know it was a mistake. So here, take it. It was never mine to start with." She smiled and held out an envelope, presumably with the tip inside. "And let's not have anymore misunderstandings."

"I'm afraid you are under many misunderstandings, menina, even if you do not realize it."

"Am I?" her smile faltered a bit. "Well, let me at least get rid of this one. You need it. Use it on your... is that your sister?" She looked at Road.

"Niece," he corrected before she could say anything for herself. "And we don't need it. You won't need it either, if only you'd be so kind as to accompany us to see a... friend... of ours."

Her smile left her face completely now. Instead she folded her arms over her chest, favoring her right. Up close he noticed the apparent burn to her left arm was even worse. "Last time I got a proposal from an audience member it was in person and he was wearing half a broken wine bottle as a hat. It was less creepy."

He raised a skeptical eyebrow at her. Exactly what kind of gigs had she been playing before this? He hoped this wasn't upscale for her. "This is no proposal, menina. Rather a... job offer. Regarding your... _god-given talents_ in regards to musical instruments."

"You mean piano?" She questioned innocently enough, though something in the way her voice wavered let him know he had struck a delicate nerve.

Road pushed her way up in front of him. "Why? Do you play other instruments?"

"A few, I guess..." she took a step back.

"A few as in all of them?"

The redhead froze. "What do you know about that?"

She held out her hand. "Come with us and we can show you."

She seemed to consider it for a moment before her face began to contort in a horrified expression not unlike the ones the noah had seen on the faces of people they were about to kill. "Are you the people who were chasing Mana?"

Road's eye widened as though something had struck her in the face. "...Mana?"

"And why do you look so familiar?" She dropped the envelope, money now forgotten. "Mana was always running- always saying not to be sad, or the earl would show up. Do you work for him- who is he?" She took back another step.

"Do you really believe you can escape us, menina?" The Portuguese man asked as though the thought were amusing.

She only ran as an answer. Who were these people- she moved enough, why would they have found her? She'd only been there a day- what did they want with her anyways? Mana was dead- dead, just like Allen! She lifted up her skirt to her knees, attempting to run faster.

"Ah-ah~" she heard an amused tone just before a sharp pain in her left arm. The man had only grabbed her wrist, but bolts of pain were already traveling throughout the length of the arm, like it was unraveling.

"No, stop," she cried now, "whatever you're doing, stop!" She attempted to bite back a sob.

He only gazed fascinatedly at the arm, now spreading apart like feathers. He pulled off the glove to reveal the green cross embedded in the back of her hand, the only part of her arm still solid. "Fascinating..." he murmured under his breath. Road was now peering over at it too, having taken her own sweet time to catch up.

"A parasitic innocence?"

He tsked. "Naughty girl. It simply won't do." He looked to Road. "Should I remove it?"

"Not without the earl's permission, no." She looked up at the pained face of their new 14th, feeling a bit sorry for the turmoil. "You look so much like your mother..."

"You... know her?" The girl seemed on the verge of passing out from the pain at this point but the comment still managed to pique her interest.

If there was a response, it was lost to her as she unwillingly surrendered to the darkness that comes with a lack of consciousness, and the nightmares that follow.

-End Chapter-

AN: Tyki and Allen are, in my opinion, the hardest -man characters to write. Considering this, in retrospect, this may not be the best story for me to write. C'est la vie- I shall go on. FOR THE GENDERBENDS!

On a side note, who else is TOTALLY FUCKING SYKED ABOUT HOSHINO'S INSTAGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE REST OF THE SERIES IS IN WRITING

AND HER PICTURES OF STORY BOARS SHE'S WORKING ON

THERE WAS SO MUCH TYKI AND WISELY IN THOSE STORY BOARDS

GIVE THEM TO ME NOOOOOW.

Portuguese Translations:

Devertir-se, menina?- Having fun, girl?

Eu nao falo portugues- I don't speak Portuguese

Obrigada- Thank you, feminine (obrigado for men)

Sem problemas- No problem

10 million escudo- Roughly equivalent to 50 thousand USD ($50,000)


	2. Chapter 2

When she awoke the first thing she noticed was new weight on her wrist. She had been shackled, she thought, scared to open her eyes. But her arm was still there. She cracked open an eye in its direction and just about screamed. Where once sat a wrinkled, mauled and burned looking blood red arm now sat one that blended seamlessly in with the rest of her creamy pale skin, like the normal human arm she'd always wanted. The only reason she could conjure would have something to do with the fat silver cuff bracelet now wrapped around her wrist. Those people must have put it there- but why?

She opened her other eye not sure what she was expecting. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a simple little bedroom lined with two stunning arched windows and decorated in a pretty light pink color along with the whites. A small crystal chandelier hung from the center of the room, and she felt instantly out of place. She doubted there was a single thing in the entire room she could afford, even if she sold her teeth like the woman from Les Mis. Wait-

"I need to focus!" She muttered to herself. "Allen, you have been kidnapped. When kidnapped one typically escapes instead of admiring the craftsmanship of the bedside ma- oh dear lord there's actually a rug there*." She slipped out of the bed and let he feet drop onto the light peachy colored rug. She squeezed her eyes and enjoyed it for a moment. It was so nice not to step onto a cold wood floor first thing in the- dammit she was doing it again! No, Allen, she told herself. Do not let them seduce you with their fancy "indoor heating" and "multiple blankets"!

She braced herself and stepped off the rug, running across the floors to the window. Would they really be so trusting as to...? She pulled up and nearly toppled out of it then and there from her own forward momentum. She hadn't actually expected it to open! Once regaining her balance she grabbed onto the ledge and stuck her head out. And she was only a mere two stories up! She looked around the room again. This was too easy.

Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. She slung her legs over the side of the window sill, and stuck her finger in a groove on one of the grips. Slowly but surely she made her way down the side of the building into the beautiful garden below, until her toes were sinking into somebody's flowerbeds. She hiked up her skirt, still wearing the show dress the kindly Chinese woman had given her in return for playing at her brothel, and scanning the area one last time to make sure the coast was clear she made a bound for the exit.

She could feel her heart elevating as she saw a gated exit built around a small cobblestone path. Almost there! She put her foot out and she could have died for joy if she hadn't fallen back over the very next second. What had happened? She looked back. While the rest of her had plowed through just fine, her hand and wrist were stuck in some invisible wall right at the bracelet. She groaned- of course it was too easy- she had known that back in the room! She grimaced as she heard approaching footsteps, and all hope she may have had dropped as the man from the theatre walked up with an irritated expression.

Only he was much better dressed this time. And glasses-less. And handsomer- oh. It finally snapped in her mind. He was the man from the dock. See, she told herself. This is what you get for giving your name away to random strangers.

"Devertir-se, menina?" He repeated the phrase from the dock, though the amusement was minimalized this time. He took a puff of his cigarette. "I seem to have been rescuing you a lot lately. Don't get used to it."

She pulled harder at this invisible wall, though she wasn't terribly hopeful about it. He ignored her increasing distress, instead nominating to scoop her up bridal style against her wishes to carry he back towards the enormous mansion- that second story window look a lot higher from the ground approaching.

"You say that like I want to be in situations where I need rescued. I try to avoid them, dammit!"

"As do all damsels in distress."

"Damsel in distress!? You take that back!"

"I don't think you're in any position to be giving _me_ orders, menina."

"I am, however, in a position to attempt escape!"

"Why?"

"You swung a door in face and kidnapped me!"

"Ah, yes, but in all fairness I did save you from drowning."

"That does _not_ make it alright to kidnap me!"

"Oh well," he shrugged unconcerned, using his shoulder to maneuver the towering main doors open and step into the grand entry way. She was not surprised to see that yet again the room was stunning, and probably cost more than she could ever earn if she never spent another penny in her entire life.

He carried her up the crimson lined staircase with an expression that was attempting to be bored but failing. He kept allowing his eyes to drift back to her face, only to catch himself and dart them back ahead. Like her, he was curious about something. But what?

"Are you taking me back to that room?"

"Nope."

"Hm? Then where are you taking me?"

"To the earl. Those were his orders for as soon as you woke up. Sorry, girl." He said not sounding particularly apologetic. She paled. The person Mana was always trying to escape, even in his broken state. What did he want with her, now that he was gone? She pushed her shaggy bangs off her face, covering her eyes and not so accidentally elbowing Tyki in the stomach. Other than a muffled "oomph" he refused to acknowledge the action, and he sighed just as they came to a stop in front of a simple white door not unlike the others that lined the hallway. He pushed it open to a small book lined office with a large oak desk set at the end of the room in front of a large window. Behind it sat a semi-stocky dark haired man with his back to her.

"Hello, Allen Walker," his voice carried as she was carried into the room.

"Hello," she answered cooly. "I'd love to say it was a pleasure to meet you, but..."

"Ah! So cold~!" He whined from across the room. "Imagine, my own granddaughter!"

"Your own what?" to her surprise Tyki was the first to speak.

"Yeah!"

"Put her down now, Tyki-pon, and let me and my long-lost relative catch up, hmmm~?"

"Yeah, yeah." He said reluctantly. "And stop calling me that!" He demanded, setting her on the couch. He looked back at her one last time on his way out the door, flashing a charming smile. "Ver mais tarde voce, querida*."

She heard the door close behind her and the chair began to spin around.

"I don't know who you are, or what you want with me, but I am certainly not you granddaughter." She huffed. "And apart from anything else, this stunt you have organized is just rude. You know I had already paid for a month's stay at that inn? All that money, down the drain! Do I look like someone who can afford to-" she broke off with a gasp as she finally caught a view of the man's face. "Mana?"

"Ah." He said wistfully, cocking that oh so familiar face to the side. "Mana, Mana, Mana. My first-born- it was a real... _tragedy_ , what happened to him. Both of my children, in fact. Your mother..." He held up his hand dramatically to his forehead. "My heart can scarcely handle it!"

" _Your_ heart!?" She asked incredulously. "I was the one that was kidnapped by a strange man!"

"I'm not that strange~"

"And that's the second time any of you have mentioned my mother- how do you know Mana? Why was he hiding from you!?"

"So many questions, all angry. You're not at all excited to see me~," he pouted.

"No, I am not."

He began to sob unabashedly.

"Hey, stop it!" She stressed. "I'm the one who should be crying here."

"First your mother runs off with that awful exorcist man, then your uncle, and now all my children..." he sighed, suddenly no longer crying. "But I have one final hope- you, my darling Esther~!"

"Who the hell is Esther-"

"You don't even know your own name~!" The man's eyes seemed yet again on the verge of tears. "If nothing else you could have gone by the name your mother gave you~"

"As far as my knowledge extends, I was abandoned, mr. whoever-you-are. I know- the ring-master told me, back in the circus. I was sold, because of my arm."

"Ah, yes. Your arm. Well, we shant worry about that at the moment. No, my dear, why do you think you were sold to a circus? A circus, specifically?"

She paused. "Well, I don't know. It was probably just in the right place at the right time, I guess."

"But there were any number of things they could have done with you- set up their own curiosity show, apprenticed you off, even simply killed you and sold your body to a college for studies. But no, they sold you somewhere that moves constantly, somewhere full of people, somewhere full of freaks and masks and costumes and disguises. Somewhere where food is abundant, even if only left-overs, an industry known for it's isolated nature, its hatred of outsiders. You think that was all some sort of pull for money? Give my daughter more credit than that~"

She opened her mouth to speak but couldn't find any words. He had a point- that was very specific. But also conducive to hiding. Hiding, if Mana was any indication, from this man here. But still, he knew her mother- he kept referring to his children, in fact. Like Mana and her mother were both _his_ children. Which would mean she really was related to Mana after all... she closed her mouth and met his eyes, the exact gold as her adoptive father, and waited for him to speak. He chuckled with a grin not quite human.

"I see you are ready to listen now~ Good girl~" he leaned back the the chair, folding his hands together with his elbows resting on his knees. He looked far more elegant than she'd ever felt herself. "I assume what you would most interested in is, essentially, you parents- my youngest, my daughter, was a good girl, just like you~ much better than her brother, to tell you the truth, though I loved them both dearly." His eyes narrowed. "That is until that _awful_ man _seduced_ her to the side of Satan~!" he growled. "I warned her not to follow him, but she blatantly ignored me, instead chasing after that _rat_ as well as leaving her family unable to fully triumph in the war. She would not return, I knew. Then she went and began _helping_ him. She fought her own family- her help led to their deaths!" He seethed. "But~" his tone became light again. "She was young and misguided, and I have forgiven her, as have we all. Forgiven _you._ " He leant forward.

"Me?"

"Yes. See, of the 14 original clan of noah, they reincarnate over and over, to save humanity~" He explained. "But to save humanity requires many deaths, and those unable to see past them, those guided by he hands of Satan, are the exorcists, the very kind as your father. Your mother fell pray to him, and hid you from us, convincing her brother along with her. She betrayed us- but you, my dear, are your mother's own reincarnation, the final link to the salvation of humanity~!" He rose. "You have not awakened yet, I can sense it, but you will. Very soon, and then you will understand!"

She only stared up at him in wonder. Sure Mana hadn't been quite right in the head, even before she had hit him with her cursed arm, but he would only follow a cause if it was just, right? Or to help his sister... she felt something in her stomach drop. Was Mana hiding her because he feared the earl, or because he respected his sister? She found herself nodding vaugely, which the man excepted enthusiastically, grabbing her under he arms and swinging her in one broad circle before pulling her into a hug.

"Oh I'm so glad to finally meet my granddaughter in person- are you sure you want to go by Allen? Esther is such a cute name for you, it's Hebrew it-" he droned on, his voice growing farther and farther away from her ears until she could no longer her him. Instead she was in some black and white world, littered with broken buildings and miscellaneous wreckage. A woman that looked almost exactly as she herself did whenever looking in a mirror stood before her, dressed near identical to how she had been when she ran into Tyki the day before, only her neck ribbon was a navy color, rather than crimson, and her clothes were clearly of finer fabric, well tailored to her body type. Her hair was shorter, too, cut in a wavy bob just above her shoulders.

"It's nice to see you face to face, Esther," the woman smiled. "Well, face to face-ish."

"Who are you?" She had a pretty good idea, but she asked anyway.

"Oh, only the one who carried you around Europe for almost ten months, on foot, birthed you, fed you, secured a life for you, ya know, that thing they like to call moms," she bit sarcastically, but with the smile still on her face. "Though I guess you wouldn't remember any of that, would you?" She sighed. "Maybe it's better that way. Even insane, Mana was probably still a better parent than either me or your father would have made. Especially your father."

"Why are you here all of the sudden? Why are you in my head?"

She frowned. "That's exactly what I'm concerned about. The 14th, our memory, only shows up in time of great need, and I can't hold her back much longer. Something urgent's about to happen."

"What kind of urgent?"

"I'm not sure yet..." the ground trembled and the woman claiming to be her mother shot a glance back over her shoulder. "You need to go. I can only keep her out of this room for so long- once she gets in though there's no guarantee I can keep you from awakening. Be prepared- it's painful."

"But if you're trying to stop it from happening then isn't awakening a bad thing? How do I stop it?"

"You don't-" she paused as the ground trembled again. "She's here. Remember to follow your own path- not the one your father, or the order, or your grandfather try to put you on, but if none of them are for you, just make you own." She stepped forward and grabbed her daughter's arm. "And most importantly, don't stop- just keep walking!"

There was a crash and flash of light that lasted for what seemed like days before Allen awoke to the worst pain she'd ever felt in her life.

-End Chapter-

AN: Eeh, I feel a bit weird about the conversation with the Earl and Allen, I may go back and change that at some point. Other than that I'm pretty okay with this chapter.

How do you guys feel about me somehow involving more of Allen's circus background? My aunt was a circus performer, she did things with trick horses and things like that, for most of her life until she recently messed up rehearsing a trick, and now she's partially paralyzed. I, on the other hand, was a proud target girl for a while and the greatest injuries I ever sustained were my own tripping over random things backstage, nothing to do with the actual knife-throwing. Either way, I have a fair deal of experience with the circus myself and would love to include it! I miss it, but I'm nowhere near athletic enough for most of the jobs, though if I could be a knife thrower or a physical actor I would take it in a heart beat. Maybe even a pianist? Sometimes some act want pianists, or keyboardists. Oh well, the point is if I can't be in it, I can write about it, and Allen feels like a great opportunity for that :)

Victorian Culture Note:

*When Allen was so impressed by the rug at the bedside, rugs were _fucking exspensive_ back then. Even aristocratic families were lucky to have two foot by two foot little mat, and even then not all of the main family would have it. Windows were always left open, as it was believed to be good for your health (they thought leaving them closed trapped oxygen in your room and killed you slowly), and floors were always wood, so you can imagine how cold it must have been on your feet getting out of bed in the morning without the rugs. Even the majority of aristocrats suffered this, along with the commoners and the middle class. Rugs were some high class shit back then.

Portuguese Language Translations:

Ver mais tarde voce, querida- See you later, darling


	3. Chapter 3

A family dinner, he said. To celebrate her awakening, he said. He didn't know and she didn't tell him. She was strong. She could deal with it. That's what she told herself, anyway.

She made her way down the stairs in her gray form, her disguised left arm melding to match, for the first time in her life wearing a proper, fashionable gown. The light blue fabric draped over a modest bustle and around an intermediately lace corset, her fiery hair piled in a simple bun on the back of her head with a few loose strand framing her face. She felt as though she were about to fall flat on her face any second now.

The akuma maid she had been forced to ask for directions after getting lost for the third time pushed open the door to the dining room. Yes, she thought, vaguely taking notice that 12 of the 13 existing seats were full. If she were going to fall, this would be the moment, when everyone had their eyes on her. She stepped into the room- she didn't fall.

"Ah, my dear Esther~!" The earl, now too in his noah form, crooned from across the room at his place at the head of the table. She did not fail to notice that the one empty seat was coincidentally right next to him, nor that the ever present Portuguese noah, whom she now knew as Tyki Mikk, just so happened to be on the other side of her chair. He was still pretty weird in her opinion, but he and Road had been the only noah allowed to visit her before this dinner (aside from the earl, of course) and she had found him, ultimately, to be much less creepy than he initially seemed, and even, on rare occasions, fun to be around. She smiled gracefully as she sat, scanning the table, noting optimistically that so far the only silverware out appeared to be spoons. "I hope you didn't have too much trouble finding us~?"

"Oh-um...well..." she blushed. "Maybe just a little."

She heard Tyki laugh good-naturedly to the right of her. "You've lived here- oh, what, now, menina? Three months? You'd think you'd know where everything is by now." He ruffled her curls with his hand.

"Two and a half months," she corrected with a pout.

"Whatever you say, menina."

"Tyki, is rude to call to a young lady as 'girl'. We were raised in the same place and I am well aware you were taught to refer to a young, unmarried lady as senhorita." A dark haired man of similar, but not exact appearance to Tyki chastised from across the table, where he sat next to Road.

"Or maybe with the amount of time he's been spending with her he's hoping to make her senhora instead," Road teased.

"You've gotta be joking," he dead panned.

"Tyki, what do those words mean?" Allen glanced up at him.

"That Road is far too interested in the affairs of others."

Road looked just about to protest when the earl cleared his throat from the head of the table. "Actually, Tyki, that's one of the things I called this meeting to discuss~"

"You what?" He choked.

"Well, she has to have some kind of cover for formal gatherings as to why there's now a young girl suddenly with us. My public age is not old enough to have grand-children~"

"What kind of cover?" Allen inquired, only to be immediately drowned back out again by Tyki, who now wore a relieved smirk.

"Ah, so an act?"

"No~"

"What!?"

"Yeah, what?" Allen leaned forward with a small frown. "I still don't know what's going on here- what's he so upset about? And what does it have to do with me?"

"He thinks we should get married, menina."

"He what!?"

"Or let Sherril adopt her. You didn't let me finish~ Why so anxious, Tyki-pon~?" He voice darkened. "Do you think you're too good for my granddaughter~?'

"What I'm hearing is that I don't have to get married," Allen sighed in relief.

"Would you rather be adopted by Sherril? Would you rather be his niece~?"

Her mouth twisted in distaste. "I never said that-"

"It's one or the other, Esther, my dear~" He sing-songed. "Besides, you and Tyki are going on a mission together. It would be more practical~"

"We are!?" The two panicked in unison.

"Of course~ You'll only be legally married, not ceremonially, but married none the less~"

"Oh," she blinked. "That's better."

"It is?" He smirked down at her. "Why exactly is that, menina?"

She only shrugged. "Then it's just a piece of paper, right? It's not _really_ a marriage."

He only shook his head. Across the table Sherril looked absolutely heart-broken, as though he already had wedding plans in mind and they had just been crushed. "Whatever you say, menina. That's fine by me." He turned back to the earl, finally relaxed enough to start eating, with a spoon in hand. "So what kind of mission is this that requires me to marry your long-lost granddaughter who may or may not bring about the end of humankind?"

He handed Allen a card and Tyki peered over he shoulder to look at it.

"Delete everyone who's name is listed~"

"That's a lot..." She trailed, running her finger down the surface of the card, pausing at each name for the tiniest fraction of a second.

"Yeah..." His eyes darkened sorowfully for a second, but he smiled. "Understood."

"Understood." She agreed as their soups were exchanged by akuma servants for the main course- mostly vegetables, topped with fish, with a few various things on the side. Still forks. Maybe she'd be alright after all, at least this time.

"Dammit," Tyki cursed, attempting with little success to use his fork to cut through a particularly large chunk of fish on his plate. Magically, it seemed, a knife appeared in his hand. She screamed.

"Foda-se!" He reeled back, knocking over his chair in the process.

"No, no, take it away, please take it away," she sobbed gesturing with her hand to the knife."Please take it away!"

Everyone on the other end of the table, aside from a silent and observant blonde woman, had all been caught up in their own conversation until right at that moment. Now they all stared at her in alarm, Road leaping instantaneously from her chair to rush over and stroke the woman's hand.

"The knife?"

"Yes, please, please!"

One of the punk looking pair she had noticed earlier seemed to get the meaning and panicked, grabbing the knife and running to the window, tossing it out to the gardens below. She felt her breath slow. "Thank you," She nodded at... him... her... shim.

"No problem, hee!"

"Tyki-pon, why don't you help Esther to her room to rest~?"

He continued to stare bewilderdly at the girl.

"Tyki-pon~?"

"Huh?" He blinked. "Oh, yeah. Right." He let Allen link her arm with his for the support and they set out.

"I'm really sorry about this!" She called over he shoulder.

"That's alright!" Road affirmed just before the door closed. Together she and Tyki made their way in silence up the crimson stairs- she could still feel her heart beating in her chest. In through your nose out through your mouth, in through your nose out through your mouth, she chanted silently to herself. Just breathe.

They came upon her door, and he finally released her arm. He held the door open for her, and followed her in. She sighed as she sunk onto the small, light pink and silver couch before the fireplace in her room. Leaving the door mostly closed but still cracked a bit behind him, Tyki favored the small matching armchair diagonal to her couch and next to a small bookshelf. He frowned at her.

"I suppose it would be prying to ask what upset you so badly about a dinner knife?"

She shook her head, drawing her knees up to her face. "Just something that happened sometimes back at the circus, when I was little. The knife-thrower, at the circus, he was real bad to his target girls, both off-stage and on. They quit a lot, and sometimes it'd be a while before we could find a replacement. In between they'd use me- who'd want to hurt a child? It was just as exciting to the crowd as if the target girls had been there. He didn't like me. He liked to knick me, on purpose. It started out small- a scrape to the ear, a cut on my arm. That's as far as it usually got during actual performances. But during rehearsals? He'd cut my sides, asking me how close I thought he could cut without my guts spilling out. Trying to cut off my cursed arm- it never penetrated the skin very far there. It was only an accident, he'd tell the ring-master. The wind was wrong, his hand cramped, _I_ flinched or sneezed. They'd decide it was my fault and I'd get beat for it. And that asshole would laugh..." She trailed off with slightly glazed eyes.

"The knife-thrower?"

"No," she shook her head. "Cosmos. He was a clown..." she wiped away a tear from one of her eyes and gave a small smile. "But that's a different story, and one I don't rather feel like sharing at the moment."

She looked over to him when no reply came and flinched. He was _fuming_.

"Ah! I'm sorry! What did I say!?" She panicked. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

"Upset _me_?" Suddenly he chuckled and shook his head, but there was something about his tone she didn't like, like it was knife-edged. "No, menina, it is not you who upsets me. But let's forget about that for now."

She nodded as he rose, making his way to the exit. He began to grab the door handle, but paused and before she knew what was happening he had one hand entwined with the hair on the back of her head and his lips on hers. He pulled away with a cheeky grin. "Boa noite, menina~"

"Wha-p- what the hell was that for!?"

But he was already gone.

AN: I figure Tyki doesn't really care about being married to Allen because he's always been shown to have a disdain for human girls in the manga, so h probably would never pursue on anyways, and definitely not to the point of marriage. Also, when it was suggested by Sherril that he get married in chapter 158 he is completely off-put.

Should I leave this as chapter three, or do you guys think the time-skip is too big? I might move this to chapter 4 and bridge a new chapter three between it, but if you guys are happy with it here I'll leave it. Also, would you rather Allen and Tyki bonded enough to consider themselves really together at the mansion before leaving for their mission, on the first half of their mission before meeting Krory and Lavi on the train, or after meeting them, a bit after the Suman bit? So basically, what speed of progression do you want their relationship to progress- the hair, the tortoise, or somewhere in between?

I assume Tyki is not actually Sherril's full brother- right? I mean, for one he is described as having light skin in his human form, not exactly a common Portuguese trait, though maybe it has something to do with most of his time being spent either inside a mansion, inside the ark, or inside mines, as well as it being an attractive trait in Japan. But the main thing is that Katsura Hoshino has a fondness for names and their meanings (Neah, for example, is a biblical name meaning "moving" or "walking") as well as their origins- all of her character's names match up to where they're from. Except for Tyki Mikk- both his first and last, actually. His first name in Scandinavian, and Mikk is from that area too, currently most common in Estonia and Russia. I really don't know, but they are either real adoptive or half brothers in my opinion, something is definitely there besides just the noah clan family deal.

Anyways, 'poor' Sherril really does seem to get all the homeless noah just sort of dumped on him, doesn't he? I figured it was Tyki's turn.

Portuguese Translations:

Foda-se- Fuck!

Boa noite- Good night


	4. Chapter 4

"They stole my cot!" Allen gaped at the half-empty space before her. "Your _friends_ stole my cot!"

"Oh how tragic." Tyki said with a puff of his cigarette. She got the feeling he did not quite find it as tragic as she did.

"Where'd they put it?" She muttered to herself, rushing outside and searching the bushes. They wouldn't have taken it too far, righ- she looked up. "What the hell!?"

Tyki followed her leisurely and matched her gaze to see the cot nailed into the side of the mine, with a note saying "You can have it if you can reach it! Otherwise, we expect nephews!"

It was just high enough to be out of her reach, though Tyki could have reached it easily. She gazed at him pleadingly but he just smirked. "Eeze did say he wanted a brother."

"We're not his parents!"

"Yes but I think we should take one for the team." He laughed as she threw the bag she was holding at him, which he allowed to hit him if only to appease her some.

"Seriously Tyki, get it down," she shook her head, though a small smile was beginning to creep onto her face at the antic. A light blush stained her cheeks.

"Aw, but why? You always end up in mine anyways."

"I do not!"

"Okay, not always. More like half."

"It's warmer," she huffed.

"Is that your only reasoning, menina? Are you sure you are not trying to seduce me?" He joked but began to retrieve the cot.

"Have I not done that already?"

"Hmm, maybe a little," he responded with a quick kiss before handing her the cot. She had gone after him for a while about the first kiss he stole, but over time they had warmed up to each other a bit. Okay, a lot. He had to wonder if their noah had been lovers previously- something possessed him to pursue her at least.

On their fingers both of them wore simple silver rings, though hers was embellished with three intermediately sized rubies, nice enough to make the miners he worked with whistle, and comment on the pretty penny he must have spent, but not enough to make them suspicious. Sherril had wanted to pick them out, but Allen had put her foot down- if she was to marry someone for the sake of the clan she was damn well going to choose her own rings.

"Allen?" The lovers broke their gaze as Allen felt a small hand tug at her bright red dress, a pretty but modest one done by a local farmer's wife for accuracy's sake. To be honest, she much preferred it to the English style. There was neither bustle nor crinoline in sight and in her mind, it was glorious.

"What is it, Eeze?" She crouched down next the boy.

"You're like my mama, right?"

She smiled, scooping him up rather effortlessly with the help of her left arm. "Yep! And Tyki's your father."

"But don't people look like their mama and father?"

She frowned. "Who told you that?"

"Some mean man from the circus. He spit on me and asked me where my parents were, and I said my dad was at the mines with Allen, who I thought might be my mama now and he said you don't just get a mama, and you can tell who's with their real mama 'cause they look alike."

She narrowed her brow and looked him in the eyes. "Now you listen here, Eeze, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once: your parents are _not_ who you look like, or who gave birth to you. They're the people that care for you, and help you when you're in trouble, no matter how old you get or how far away you are, because they love you. I'd say Tyki and I do all those things pretty well, don't we?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Good." she swung him around and placed him on the floor. Tyki watched on with a broad grin.

"Since there are two of you now though I _can_ have a brother, right?"

"Um, um, yes- no- we'll see," she stammered with a blush that now matched the scarlett of her dress. "Now go wash up for dinner."

"Yes ma'am." He said, wandering obediently inside. She braced herself for the mocking to come.

"' _We're not his parents, Tyki!'"_ He imitated in a high-pitched voice.

She laughed, scratching the side of her face embarrassedly with her index finger. "Well, maybe a little."

He grabbed her shoulders and touched his forehead to hers. "You did good, menina."

If it were possible, her blush intensified. "I just told the truth."

"And a truer truth there never was." He feigned hurt. "But is it really right to deprive a boy a sibling?"

"Okay, maybe the last bit was a lie."

"Was it, menina? Was it really?" He grinned, moving his hands down to her waist.

The second cot was left in the grass.

-1-1-1-

She should have fucking known the second Eeze said circus. Of course with her it couldn't be just any random circus in all of Europe, noooo, this specific French circus just _had_ to expand its boundaries to a Portuguese mining town. And that _bastard_ somehow still had a job. She guessed age didn't matter too terribly much when you had a few dozen layers of white paint on your face. She hoped the knife-thrower at least was gone. Not just for her sake.

It didn't take Tyki long to notice her sudden stiffness as they passed by a performing street clown. He was decent, getting more than a few chuckles from the audience here and there, but he knew the hesitance wasn't from wanting to hang back and watch a show. It was a kind he recognized- fear.

"What's wrong, menina?" he whispered, so as not to be heard by Eeze and his two friends dallying ignorantly in front of them.

"Nothing," she said, not taking her eyes off the clown, instead moving in closer to Tyki. She was bunching the fabric on his back with her grip, her small frame fitting under his arm like a glove.

"A smell of fear strong enough to rival those of the people I have killed is not 'nothing', menina."

She flinched. "Let's just get away from here. Take a different route home..." the crowd was now dispersing, leaving the clown to wander the streets on his own time. Upon seeing Allen his eyes sparkled with a cruel recognition.

"Hey, Red!"

"No," her voice rose as she attempted unsuccessfully to jerk from her husband's grasp, but he held her firmly in place. "Tyki, let go!"

"No," He seethed. "Is this the one that used to beat you?"

"What are you doing now? Whoring around with the miners?" He mocked, still approaching. Their friends and Eeze had stopped now, and were making their way back.

"I'm not a whore, Cosmos!" she yelled with watering eyes.

"Amazing anyone would take you, what with your _demon arm_ an everything..."

"My _wife_ ," Tyki growled, "is not a demon anything."

"Hey, this guy giving you two trouble?" One of their friends asked as they caught up.

"Don't take any crap from this clown, Tyki!"

Eeze rush over back behind Allen.

"Wife? Pah, what, did she black-mail you?"

"Allen, that's the man who said you weren't my mama," the child informed, clinging to the bottoms of her skirt.

This seemed to stir something within the redheaded woman. "He _what?_ " She hissed, throwing Tyki's arm off her shoulder with a new found force. Rolling up her sleeves she marched up to meet him"Now you listen here, asshole," she poked him in the chest. "You may have hurt me in the past, you may have killed my friend- hell, you hurt me now. You scare the living shit out of me. But when you go and try to hurt _my_ boy, that's when you've gone too far!" She fumed.

"Pah, like I'm worried about your scrawny-"

 ** _BAM._**

Before he knew it he was flying across the street and into the walls set up around the circus. Tyki blinked down at her while the other two only gaped.

"Better?"

She blushed and nodded.

Still, it was no great surprise that the next day the clown was found dead. The estimated time of death just so happened to match up exactly with Tyki's lunch break that day, though no one ever persecuted him for it. But she just couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for this one.

-End Chapter-

AN: Hn, I'm relatively happy with this chapter. Would anyone like to see Allen performing at the circus next chapter, or would you rather I went on to meeting Krory and Lavi on the train? I'd love to write either, but if no one says anything I'll probably include the circus for my own nostalgia. I've actually been considering sending a demo to Cirque du Soleil for either the physical acting discipline or vocalist. That'd be really great to get accepted, but they're pretty damn high caliber so I won't be too heart-broken to get rejected. We'll see :)


	5. Chapter 5

"Sorry. No kids allowed at the moment." A dirty man with large glasses and suspenders slouched over the low card table in a secluded room in the train. "Now, sir, let's have another match. What will you wager next?"

"B-but..."

"Hey, you running away?"

"If you're man you'll stick with it to the end."

Lavi sighed, making his way over to his new found companion. He was about to ask what the hell was going on when the door swung open again to reveal a pretty, short, redheaded woman in traditional Portuguese dress, with a small child. She frowned at the scene before her.

"What the hell are you doing, Tyki?"

The other two men flinched but he just beamed up at her. "You wanted a new book, right?"

She seemed unimpressed, folding her arms unforgivingly over her chest as though barring her heart from his charms. "I was not aware that entailed stealing a dimwitted man's clothing in a game of strip poker."

"You never said not to."

"I swear to god," she huffed, settling down next to the man. Eeze followed in suit. "C'mon. Deal me some cards."

"What?"

"I _said_ , deal me some cards."

"But querida-"

" _Now_."

He continued to smile, but complied at her tone. "Hm, perhaps strip poker is a game better suited to when we are alone, menina~"

Lavi raised an eyebrow. A husband and wife duo, perhaps? The child with her was probably theirs, though he didn't see much of a resemblance. He noticed the matching rings on their fingers. Yep- fishy, if you asked him. Why would she help Krory get his stuff back when it could be hers instead? They didn't exactly appear to be the most well off of people. He hoped they weren't working together to scam his friend over again.

"How about no. Besides- you're the one that'll be naked by the end of this anyways. And this young man can leave exactly the way he came." She turned to the victim with an encouraging smile. "That sound good, sir?"

He blushed and nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

She turned back. "Now, let's get this game started, shall we?"

-1-1-1-

"Thank you again, Mrs. Allen!" The vampire-like man called from the train.

"Don't mention it!" She waved as the train set off, ignoring the annoyed aura radiating from her husband.

"Who would have known you to be so good at cheating, menina?"

"You have no proof."

"Because you're so good?"

"Hm."

"Why would you-" he broke off as a nearby phone rang. He looked back at his two friends. "Sorry, guys, but looks like you're gonna have to look after Eeze for a while. This one's for both of us."

"Another one of your odd jobs?"

"Yeah, sorry!" He grinned apologetically at them.

'Hey, whatever gets you by, now that you're looking after Allen too. Especially with her appetite!" He laughed. "We'll go on without you."

"Tyki? Bring me back some more silver, okay?"

With that they left, leaving Allen and Tyki in a staring contest.

"We have to go kill an exorcist. He's nearby." He frowned at her. "Those were exorcists back there, in the train. You shouldn't help them."

"Those were _people_ back there, on the train. And there was no need to torture them senselessly. We didn't need that stuff, and as far as I could tell he did. You were just being mean to him."

He shrugged and smiled again. "It's what I do~"

"Exactly!" She snapped. "It's what you always do, to everyone who's not in your little circle. We may be on opposite sides, but we're both still human, Tyki."

"Humans you've agreed to help wipe out?" He scoffed. "Don't make me laugh, menina."

She looked down. "The cruelty of many outweighs the kindness of few. All I want is to tip that scale."

"Whatever you say, menina." He took off his glasses and instantaneously he was in his gray form, complete with suit and top hat. Wordlessly she followed in suit until she was wearing her light blue bustled gown. He offered his arm. "Shall we go?"

She hesitated. "...yeah." And she took the handsome devil's arm with a tear on her cheek.

-1-1-1-

 _I don't want to lose it._

"I'm sorry."

 _Just... the white side of me..._

His wife is crying.

 _And the black side of me..._

He tears a silver button from a dark jacket.

 _Having both of them is what makes life so enjoyable!_

The exorcist Deisha Berry is dead.

-End Chapter-

AN: Aw, this one is short :( Oh well, hope you enjoyed! I still need to figure out what to do with Suman. I have any idea, but we'll see. Anyone know any other fem!noah!Allen's I could check out? I feel like I've read them all but maybe you guys know one :)


	6. Chapter 6

"Why did you have to do that to Suman?" Allen fiddled with hair pin in her hands, her face largely blocked by the combined efforts of her long loose hair and the shadows in the dimly lit room. A small lantern cast light to her frowning mouth, but nothing else. "Why couldn't you just kill him?"

"I needed a nursery for Teeze. Would you rather I picked some random innocent?"

"We don't need anymore Teeze- it's just like the train. All you do is torture them because you think any human aside from Momo, Clark, and Eeze are all awful. All the same. Do you remember nothing of your life before you awakened?"

"I do, and it doesn't help."

"Well, you know what, Tyki? I'm sorry." She stood, the pin of the pin now splintering in her hands. "I'm sorry that maybe your life hasn't been the best, I'm sorry you have such a hard time fathoming anything good, and I'm sorry I still care- sorry I can't just cut myself off like you can. But I can't, Tyki. I'm a small, small person and I don't like to see people suffer. I want to help everyone I can, even if I make a mess along the way- that's my job description, right? Destruction?" She threw down the shards of wood from her hand, letting them clatter on the floor below her.

"You are very human, Allen..." He sighed, gently grabbing her shoulders and sitting her down. She blinked up at him. Had he just used her real name? "Never able to see the big picture... always thinking about what's right before your eyes. You want to save everyone without hurting anyone, but it's not possible, menina." He sat next to her, looking her evenly in the eyes, her hands gripped firmly in his own. "That's what makes you such a mess- you're a human in noah form. You speak to both my sides..." He smiled a small smile. "You may be destruction, but you'll try your best not to be. That's what makes you a tragedy..." He let her hands go now. "You really want to save as many people as you can, menina? Then you have to learn to keep black and white seperate, or you'll just become a pool of gray. Leave that job for your skin, querida."

For what could have been 5 minutes, but felt like and hour, she didn't say anything. Just sat there, staring at a cut on her hand, bleeding from the edges of the pin shards. He didn't think anything in his life had ever surprised him so much than when the next thing she did was kiss him.

Oh, he was _so_ glad they had left Eeze with Momo and Clark that night.

-1-1-1-

"You killed him!"

"You saved him!"

She sprung up with Suman's innocence clutched in her hand. "I took out his innocence. He was harmless!"

He ignored her, grabbing her wrist, tight enough for her to wince in pain, but she refused to cry out. "Give it to me, menina, before I take it."

"No!"

He phased through her hand, taking the innocence with it and holding it high over her head in a manner that should have been comical. "This cursed innocence arm of yours," he gripped it tighter, "is it the heart? Shall we play a game, menina?" He threw her down, laying a foot on her chest to keep her from rising again. Her arm begain to feather, as it had back at the theatre all those months ago. She felt every bit of it peel away, strip by strip, into the beautiful feather like slivers. She had taken off her cuff for the first time in months, to sever Suman's innocence.

"Stop it, Tyki..." she cried, tears welling in her eyes. "Let me go!"

"What are the rules you ask? Well, simple! If I destroy your arm, and Suman's innocence is destroyed as well, then your innocence was the heart. If it's still here, well, we can continue on our mission as normal," he pressed harder on her chest and she found herself having difficulty breathing. "Right, menina?"

She let out a screech as she felt her arm finally dissipated entirely, leaving only pale, well scarred stub in its place. He let out a disappointed scoff. Suman's innocence remained.

"Well, would you look at that, menina?" He tsked, shaking his head, and in a snap the innocence was gone. "You're not that special after all..." He looked down to meet her eyes, now near impossible to see through her tears and he froze. Slowly he lifted his foot off her chest, kneeling beside her with an almost shocked expression.

"Get away from me!"

"Menina, menina, I don't..." He scooped her up bridal style just as he had done the first day she tried to escape. He held her sobbing head into his chest. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry-Não tive má intenção, I'm sorry," he gripped her tighter. "Não vai se repetir."

"Will you ever learn I don't know what you're saying when you do that?" She beat her fist onto his chest. "I can live without that arm. Hell, I'm happy it's gone. But for a while you weren't you, Tyki." She cried harder. "You were like someone had taken over, and they were ready to kill me. Did I upset you so much? I know you, asshole, and you never would have forgiven yourself! You would go on pretending like nothing was wrong, like you were okay wit all this killing, but you're not, you idiot! You're never okay..." her sobs turned to shudders. There was a silence as a breeze blew through, and then a chuckle. It vibrated through his chest, shaking her along with him, and turned into a full out laugh.

"What the hell!?" She exclaimed, anger rising in he chest. He killed an innocent, destroyed her arm, and let her pour out her heart to him and he had the _balls_ to laugh? "What's so funny you filthy bastard!?"

Suddenly he was silent, as he held her up under her arms, smiling softly into her face. "Me? You were concerned about _me?_ "

"Yes, in fact, I was, asshole, though now I can't imagine why!"

He set her on the ground and pulled her in close. As he spoke, she could feel his breath on her ear. "What did I ever do to deserve you, menina?"

She blinked. Was he being... _appreciative?_ She felt a smile begin to creep up onto her lips. "Something pretty awful, I suppose."

"And vice-versa."

"Ah, so you finally admit you're not perfect."

"I never said that. You just can't handle my perfection."

She giggled and he took her hand. "I love you, you know that, menina?"

"...I know." She paused. "And vice-versa."

"Oh, just say it, menina. 'I love you Tyki"- is that so hard to say?"

"Yes," she laughed. "But I will say it anyways: 'I love you, Tyki Mikk, even when you destroy my arm'."

"Hm, this is going to haunt me isn't it."

"As well it should."

"Hm."

"Hm." She mimicked. She didn't notice the golden golem nearby, recording the entire scene. She was too caught up in a kiss.

-End Chapter-

AN: I really hate conflict. Can you tell? It just makes me sad :( There has been many a show adored by thousands which I can't stand because I spend the whole time just like "I JUST WANT YOU TO LOVE EACH OTHER." I couldn't finish Gone With the Wind because I just wanted Rhett and Scarlet to get along. I have a serious issue with conflict. I go out of my way to avoid it in real life. Being an atheist and a vegetraian in the bible belt hurts this too because the second anyone hears it they suddenly feel as though they are a well trained expert on the subject and must either teach me their ways or yell in my face about how I'm going to die from lack of protein and go to hell and I'm just like *tiny voice* "I just wanted to eat hummus and read the Golden Compass, why don't we just respect each other and-" *other person continues to attempt to school me in the bible despite the fact that I have literally read the entire bible* and like I just can't. Movies, books, shows, life, conflict just makes me break down and cry. So I'm sorry if you wanted a long conflict between them but selfishly my own heart can't take it. *sniffles* I just want everybody to get along D:

Oh dear god I'm turning into Miranda.

Anyways, coming up next: CROSSSSSSSSSSSS!

I FUCKING LOVE CROSS!

Portuguese translations:

Querida- darling

Não tive má intenção- I didn't mean to

Não vai se repetir- I won't let it hapen again


	7. Chapter 7

Bak was baffled. He'd never seen anything like it in his life, in fact they had scarcely caught up even with how quickly Fo had called. Not only was there a mysterious innocence in particle form, but it was traveling on it's own. Could it sense its accomodator nearby? With Komui's help, the exorcists were on it's tail immediately, wherever it may lead.

Perhaps they'd get a new disciple of god after all.

-1-1-1-

"Woah."

It was all she could think to say upon entering this supposed "ark". Something felt incredibly familiar, and right, but at the same time off, as though there were something about this place she were forgetting. She kept close to Tyki's side as the other noah with her echoed the first bit of her thoughts around the room. The last half was replaced with thoughts of home. Lucky.

"The genes of the noah inside you are causing that sentimentality~" A voice floated from above them. She cringed. This would be hard to explain. "After Noah escaped from the great flood, this is where he created the ancestors of current humanity. This is your original birthplace~ I've mentioned this to you before, haven't I? This ark of Noah is truly the original home, the birth place of man kind. that's what I recall saying~"

"A birthplace, huh? And now it's a manufacturing plant for akuma." Tyki smiled.

"It's hilarious how the humans and akuma are born from the same place." Devit added.

"Hilarious, hee!"

"I feel that that's somehow poetic in a way I don't understand," Allen said with a carefully neutral expression.

"Someday Esther shall control it~ It is the job of the fourteenth~" He paused. "By the way, why are you all here and not doing your jobs~?" He took another pause and his aura seemed to darken. "Tyki-pon, where is my dear Esther's arm?"

"I-"

"I asked him to remove it," Allen covered in before her husband could speak.

"...Why~? After we made you that nice bracelet to hide it and everything~"

"It was really hurting me lately, I guess because I've been in my Noah form more often. Besides, it's only ever been a burden anyways. For it I have only bad memories."

"...I see~"

-1-1-1-

The two exorcists raced through the wasted landscape of Japan, through rubble and past empty buildings, cutting straight across memories no longer held by the living. That was the entire country now- a past no one remembered, save perhaps for the Earl himself. The only souls they passed were those of akuma, and even those paid them no mind, instead trudging slowly across the fields, as though in a dream, or speeding through the sky without so much as a glance in their direction. It killed them, but they returned the favor. They had to keep their eyes one the prize, and that innocence certainly wasn't slowing down.

Still, they had a bad feeling about this.

-1-1-1-

" ** _SO PLEASE DO YOUR JOBS!"_**

Allen flinched, cringing in sympathy for the noah brothers.

"W-we're sorry..."

The Earl seemed to be caught up in his own thoughts for a moment, staring out over Japan. "Perhaps it is destiny that we are both present in this country, Cross Marian... Let us meet on the eve of my new ship's departure~"

"Is he okay?" She whispered to Tyki. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could speak the Earl suddenly swung Lero out towards the ground as thought pointing and screeched.

" ** _Go, my akuma army! Attack the generals as one!"_**

-1-1-1-

"AH! The Millennium Earl got eaten!"

"Don't be absurd~. This attack isn't even on par with a general's level~" The Earl sing-songed, floating in the air by his umbrella. " **Come one out... you little rats~"**

The smoke cleared to reveal a large group of exorcists. "We won't let you get the generals, Earl!"

"Ha~ Do you think you can win~?"

"I see... is that silly looking fat-ass the earl, Bookman?" Said the one Allen recognized as the man she helped on the train. Come to think of it, the redheaded one with the eyepatch was there too, wasn't he?

"Yes." A small old man with dark circles surrounding his eyes bowed his head solemnly.

"He's the akuma manufacturer." The eye-patch from the train added.

"Are you really gonna fight against him!? Besides this large army, five of the noah-sama are here too! You'll never win! You'll die, 100 percent!" Berated a young woman that oddly enough looked almost like an akuma. Wasn't she an optimistic one.

"Don't say that, Chome..." argued the eye-patch. "We know how incredible their strength is... but we have no intention of fighting a losing battle."

"Lavi...but..." the akuma girls eyes started to water. "It's already a losing battle!"

"What a blithering noisemaker. We won't know if we'll lose until we try!" The sucker from the trained argued. Was it just her, or was he a lot... sweeter, on the train.

"That's right. We might end up winning hands down!"

"We won't know 'til we try!" They shouted, rushing forward.

"Millennium Earl, I'll handle this." Tyki stepped of the roof.

"No, Tyki, wait!" She leaped up after him, rushing over to his side before the exorcists. If he took issue with her presence, he didn't say anything.

"If it isn't the gentleman and the eye-patch from before."

"Before?"

"I have some free time at the moment. Keep me occupied again."

"What do you mean again?"

"Should we tell him, menina?" Tyki acknowledged her casually, looking down at her with one hand in his pocket and a trickster-esque smirk.

She shrugged wearily. "I don't see why not."

Slowly the medium grey tint of her skin lightened to a pale alabaster, her gold eyes reverting back to their original light watery silver.

"The hottie from the train!"

"The what?" He narrowed his eye at the eye-patch. "This is my wife, eye-patch. She's not available."

"Um, thanks, I guess?" She frowned. "Listen, I'm gonna go ahead and apologize now."

"Apologize for what, noah?"

"For killing you."

Her husband blinked down at her in surprise, but with an interested smile. "What was that now, menina?"

"Or you killing them. I apologize for either. It's just... I'm certainly not gonna let you fight alone. I don't want you to get hurt."

He scoffed, but it had a bit of a laugh in it. He still smiled. "So selfish, menina."

"What can I say, I'm a small woman."

"Yes, and not just in the fact that the top of your head doesn't quite reach my armpit."

"Hey, it's not my fault you're a goddamn gia-" suddenly she froze. Surrounding her was a cloud, or something that looked like cloud. Something about it felt familiar and made her stomach turn at the same time. She heard Tyki hiss and real away from it, but she herself felt no pain.

"Menina?" She head him call, sounding mildly concerned, but almost more curious.

"I'm fine, it's just..." She watched as the cloud seemed to inch smaller and smaller, concentrating around the stub where her left arm used to be. She heard feet hit the ground below her.

"Lenalee, Miranda!" The eye-patch greeted. "Are those the innocence particles you were following?"

"Yes, but why are they concentrating around the noah?" A short haired girl wondered aloud.

"Is- is that something bad?" a depressing looking woman fretted from beside her.

Meanwhile Allen could feel a pain growing onto her, like when her arm was destroyed, but the image was for some reason in reverse. Bit by bit she gaped as her left arm pieced itself back together, until eventually it was back in its original red, twisted state, green cross and all. She squeezed her eyes like a dam, a barrier to her tears, as she curled and uncurled the fingers on her newly regained hand as tough to be sure it were real. Deciding it was she clenched the hand, wandering what kind of sick joke God was trying to play on her.

Surely a benevolent God would not do this to her- curse her with this arm, then after years of torture allow her to taste the freedom of its loss, only for it to show up again days later out of the blue. For it to lead her to Mana and have him die. God had led her to him, and taken him away- but had he not led her to Tyki, too? She had to believe it was her own guidance, her own failure at direction that allowed them to meet that day, but still she couldn't shake her worry.

There was an audible gasp from the Chinese girl, and even eye-patch and vampire-boy looked surprised. "But how...?"

They watched as the redhead struggled to fight off tears, and with the innocence finally having taken shape they watched Tyki rush forward, wide-eyed and curious. "Você está magoada, menina? Are you in pain?"

"Stop that," she winced, flinching a bit as he laid a hand on her shoulder. "How would you feel if I spoke French all the time? Donc, non, Tyki, je suis parfaitement bien."

"What?"

"Exactly." She gently pushed away his hand. "I said I'm fine. Really, I am, though I can't say I'm honestly overjoyed to have it back." She gave a small smile, reaching into her dress pocket and puling out the silver bracelet, clasping it firmly onto her deformed arm, returning it again to its facade of normality. "C'est la vie."

He grinned. "Even I know that one, menina."

"I figured as much."

"Oi!"

The man frowned as he turned around back to the exorcists. "What? You're all still here?"

"How did you get that innocence to attach to you, noah?" The eye-patch called.

"I was born with it, unfortunately." She glared. "It's never been anything but trouble, trust me, I was glad to be rid of it."

"Has this ever happened before?" The short haired girl asked in the direction of the eyepatch and old man.

Eyepatch shook his head. "Not that I've ever heard of."

Old man stayed silent.

"What are we all standing around for?" Allen said, stretching her now matching arms after a moment of silence. There were these exorcists, and there was her husband. She'd realized long ago it was one or the other- she'd made her choice. "Let's get this show on the road!"

"Don't be so eager, menina, that's my job," her husband purred.

She scoffed, making her way towards the exorcists, now with a small flute in hand. Even if it hurt, she'd made her choice. "You need to learn how to share, mon vilain."

"You have not yet given me a reason to, menina."

She smirked an emotion that contradicted her eyes. "I will."

-End Chapter-

AN: Okay, apparently Cross is next chapter... I'm not particularly happy with this one, but I'm sure some people will point out my errors in the reviews. I dislike this chapter enough I may edit based upon them this time.

WHO ELSE IS HYPED FOR DGM NIGHT 219 TOMORROW!? I AM! Now I just need to find it in English so I'll understand more than every other word they're saying T.T

Also I just finished reading the Silence of the Lambs sequel, Hannibal, and after oddly shipping them in that book and movie I just feel so justified now and shall continue to ship it for the rest of my days. Unlike Silence of the Lambs the Hannibal movie was only okay though. Anyways, my point is they also make me feel that if Hannibal the Cannibal and Clarice the FBI agent can end their story dancing over a dinner that may very well contain human liver in Buenos Aires, Tyki and Allen can have a happy ending too, dammit!


End file.
